Over this past weekend, two KWH volunteers, our current project manager, Kirk, and board member, Mike, traveled over 20 hours and approximately 9,000 miles to reach Lusaka, Zambia to begin the site assessment trip for our upcoming project. The assessment trip serves as an opportunity to work in-person with our in-country Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) partner to learn about the community our partner has identified as the site for a potential solar microgrid system and business. The assessment trip is spent getting to know the community members, local leaders, the economics of the area, identifying a potential location for a solar system, and testing our custom data acquisition system.
While in Lusaka, Kirk and Mike will meet with past and potential solar vendors, like Vitalite, who we have worked with on previous projects to procure solar home systems. On Tuesday, they will travel 3 hours southwest of Lusaka to Monze to meet our partner for this project, Fikani and his team at Caritas Monze. Over the next three days, Kirk, Mike and Fikani and other Caritas staff will visit two sites: Kanchomba and Cheeba where they will tour the community, meet with community leaders, run focus groups, and meet groups that could potentially run a business using the electricity produced at the solar microgrid, as well as identify potential locations to house the solar system.
It will be a busy but productive and valuable trip for both KWH and Caritas to assess the potential of installing a solar microgrid with a sustainable business plan to ensure the viability of the system, and the economic development of the community, for years to come.
Follow us on social media for updates and be sure to get your ticket to our June 10th fundraiser, Light Up the Night, to help support this project!
Comentários